BIZCOMP—short for business competitions—ignites nerves, desires and nocturnal hustles for hun­dreds of Bangladeshi students each year. But what is it that sees some teams climb that golden podium, while others walk away with “at least we tried”?

I queried a number of the winners, finalists and mentors and here’s the rapid-fire truth nobody talks about.

“First Thing First — it’s not about being a prodigy”

“We were nothing like a standard state school,” said one of the finalists in Recruiting for 2023, from his final three positions. “People believe podium teams come only from NSU or IBA. Not true. What’s more important is how obsessed you are with solving the problem.”

BIZCOMP is not a contest where book smarts is rewarded — it’s about structured thought under pressure. And almost everyone was in agreement on this: it’s about discipline and chemistry as much as raw IQ.

Forget skimming Quora and taking your best shot at downloading Harvard casebooks in the dark. Here’s a sampling from what bizcomp winners really did:

Past cases are gold

A 2022 Dhaka University team lead who had won numerous bizcomps explained,

“I have cleared 14 old cases with my team. We didn’t just read solutions, we re-designed our decks.”

Start from your university clubs bizcomps, Brandwitz, BizMaestros, MIST CMB, local case competitions. Learn to crack the frameworks easily (and not to memorise) like 4Ps, 7S, Porter’s Five , BCG and so on.

Deck is not design, it’s psychology

“Canva skills is not something the judges care about,” one runner-up bluntly told me.

What they don’t care about: slang, politics, personal interests, colloquialism, etc.

Your slide should answer: What’s the insight? Why this solution? How do we implement it?

Hint: Fewer texts, more logic, visual strategy maps and timelines.

If you can give a good story without reading the slides, you are 50% of the way.

It’s a mock panel beaker or a mock panel could break you

One of the IBA-JU participants who was a champion of a well-known national competition expressed, “We did three such full mock pitches and were pressed on by ex-participants like crazy. It was terrible — and that’s how we were ready.”

Have seniors, former finalists or even teachers serve as judges. They’ll destroy your ego but teach you to deliver.

How to keep track of time without losing your mind

Feather fell sparsively till dawn: “Our team slept two hours in TOTAL during the final night,” laughs one NSU participant. “But we had a timeline. Strict.” Roughly, this is what works for most top teams:

• Read and brainstorm individually
• Refine strategy
• Design and pitch building of deck
• Practice pitch, go through deck, practice again
• And don’t forget food, water and short breaks too

Presentation: Where 90% lose it

“You have 12 minutes to sound like McKinsey but feel like a friend,” said a finalist in 2021, BUP.

Key tips:

• Start with a bang (hook, insight, real impact stat)
• Don’t script every word – understand your slides like the back of your hand.
• Eye contact, confidence and the speed you speak matter.
• Prepare for a Q&A like it’s your viva — preempt every “why not?”

Teamwork – your hidden weapon

This was the point stressed by every winner I spoke to more than any other.

“We literally fought like cats during strategy hour,” one says. “But when we gave our presentation, we were a team.”

Choose teammates who:

• Supplement with another skill (ideator, researcher, designer, presenter).
• Listen to the feedback, give the feedback straight.
• Can handle bad days but still show up.

But even with all the preparation, sometimes it’s down to the panel, the mood, the timing. And every winner admitted this.

But as one of the finalists put it best: “You can’t control what happens, but you can control whether you went to bed knowing that you gave your hundred percent.”

And sometimes that’s the best reward of all.

For future bizcomp warriors, here are your cheat sheets:

• Solve past cases like mad
• Construct decks that are logical, neat and sharp
• Do brutal mock presentations
• Understand your structure, the market and your QnA prep
• Tune your picks to the right team, not the most hyped team
• Sleep, hydrate, pray, repeat

If you’re dreaming of podium finishes — start construction now. Because bizcomp doesn’t reward perfection. It rewards persistence.